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A further 80 posts across front-line services are also set for the chop in a move which would help save the local authority £13 million.

It is understood to be the single biggest batch of cuts at the council in recent years.

According to leaked budget papers seen by The Inverness Courier, the council's education, culture and sport department faces the brunt of the cuts, with a total of 64 posts under threat, of which 30 are teaching posts in primary and secondary schools.

The council wants to tighten up on its teaching quotas and trim all posts over and above the entitlement.

But concerns have already been raised by teaching union the Educational Institute of Scotland (EIS) about the impact of the move on staff and the quality of teaching.

Historically, schools have been allowed to keep teachers on, even when pupil rolls fall. But under these proposals, schools will no longer be able to retain more teachers than they need. The administration wants to get rid of all the additional posts by August to save around £780,000.

The union is due to meet education chiefs on Tuesday.

"I was aware there were going to be cuts but if this is true — 30 posts — I would be very concerned," said Andy Stewart, Highland secretary for EIS. "It is a serious issue. Teachers cannot keep on delivering a high standard of education if the numbers are cut year on year.

"If this was a one-off after years of plenty you could absorb it but it is getting to the stage where the cuts cannot be absorbed — they are hitting and hitting hard on the ability to deliver high-quality education."

Teaching staff could also be offered early retirement and there are plans to bring in new teachers on lower grades to save cash.

It is anticipated that a further 28 posts will be deleted from the council's social work department, including four senior practitioners in the children's services sector, and 10 from the transport, environmental and community services department.

Of the 110 posts under threat, 60 are understood to be vacant and the administration insists the majority will be managed through re-deployment and natural wastage.

The proposals are to go before a meeting of the full council on Thursday where elected members will also be asked to agree a freeze in Council Tax for the second year running.

The authority's budget leader, David Alston (Lib-Dem), regretted having to delete posts, but said the council, like other local authorities in Scotland, faced a challenging situation over the next few years.

"We aim to be honest about these difficulties and to work with councillors, our staff and the public to protect, and where possible, improve our core services," he said, citing the downturn in the economy and the significant rise in fuel and energy bills as adding to the council's costs.

Councillor Alston admitted there would be a reduction in teacher numbers but refused to comment on any of the detail contained within the budget proposals.

He added that compulsory redundancies would be a last resort.

Unions were made aware of the potential cuts earlier this week.

"We have generally been assured by social work and TEC services they cannot see redundancies as an issue — most of the deletions will be taken care of through re-deployment and natural wastage," said a Unison branch official.

"We have not however had reassurances from education, culture and sport and we are obviously concerned about the potential impact it will have on staff."

GMB official Bruce Crabtree added the union would be working to ensure the redeployment of staff wherever possible and that jobs remained do-able.

Councillor Jean Urquhart, the SNP's spokeswoman on budget issues, had not seen the full details of the proposals yesterday but raised concern about the impact of the cuts on vulnerable people.

Councillors will be asked to agree a revenue budget of £598 million for 2009/10 — an increase of £23 million on last year.

Increased spending is necessary to meet pay awards, general inflation, new pay and grading structures, pensions and loan charges.

Council Tax for an average band D property will remain at £1163 per year.

Where the axe will fall

Education, Culture and Sport:

Primary and secondary schools — removal of 30 teaching posts.

Outdoor education activities — deletion of 2.5 posts.

Culture — removal of three area cultural officer posts.

Adult education — deletion of 11.5 posts.

Community learning and leisure management — removal of 10 posts.

Health — three posts and £80,000 to be cut from Healthy Living Centres.

Social Work:

Community care — standstill budget for voluntary organisations.

Care Homes — 16 posts to go through the modernisation and replacement of care homes.

Children and families — 4.5 posts to go through re-configuration of senior practitioners.

Children's rights officer — deletion of post.

Non residential care — deletion of 1.4 posts from Maclean Court Day Care centre in Nairn.

Training — budget to be top sliced.

Transport, Environmental and Community Services:

Environmental health — removal of one post.

Trading Standards — removal of one post.

Waste management — deletion of two posts and increase charges for collection and disposal of commercial waste, introduction of charges for the uplift of bulky goods.

Car parks — new pay-on-exit system to be introduced at Rose Street car park in Inverness — loss of two posts.

l.paterson@inverness-courier.co.uk